In December of 1994, military conflicts erupted between Russia and Chechen separatists after Russia's attack on Chechnya. Russia launched a vicious bombing campaign against the civilian residential areas of Chechnya. About 80,000 civilian were killed and injured and hundreds of thousands more were dislocated.
The atrocities committed against innocent Chechen civilians were undoubtedly a serious violation of human rights. What was the reaction of US and Western European countries, the most enthusiastic advocates of human rights? When the war began, the US was quite reserved in its response. It was not until after a fierce debate in Congress that President Clinton, who had remained silent, finally issued a statement condemning Russia's actions. But he emphasized that the conflict in Chechnya was Russia's internal affair, and therefore the US should not and would not meddle.
Western European countries, however, harshly denounced Russia's military action, canceled several cooperation plans with Russia, and began discussing possible economic sanctions against Russia. Despite all the condemnation and sanctions, they still welcomed Russia to the Council of Europe.
After the Tiananmen massacre in 1989, Western European countries issued strong condemnations of China's human rights violations. They suspended loans, canceled official visits, and ceased technology transfers to China. In retaliation, China terminated commercial contracts with those countries.
However, in less than a year, all the commercial and diplomatic ties severed gradually resumed and became even stronger than before. Since then, Western European countries have been especially sensitive to China's human rights issue. Former chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl even openly announced the detachment of human rights issues from German-China policy.
The slow reaction of the US and the eagerness of Western European countries to re-embrace China show us that human rights diplomacy is nothing but a political tool in the real world of international politics. Therefore, we cannot expect support from the international community through our use of human rights diplomacy.
Shin Chuei-ling is an assistant professor in the department of political science at National Chung Cheng University.
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